Sebastião Salgado. GENESIS

The Sebastião Salgado Genesis Hardcover Book was purchased during September of 2023 for the price of $18.39 plus tax. It is now avaialble for the price of $11.29 plus tax (Novemeber 22, 2024). It's not really just to compare the work of artists, in my opinion. However, when one views the works presented in this book, someone knowledgeable about the world of great photography would be hard pressed not to think of the work of Ansel Adams. However, the excellence of Salgado's printing technique is absolutely incomparable. Most people think of black and white photography as being reminiscent of a time during which color photography did not exist. Although that may historically accurate, there's no doubt that these black and white prints are beyond superlative in their richness of definition, their variance of tone, being almost infinite in gradation, and thoroughly mesmerizing in detail. I purchased 2 of these books as gifts for very dear loved ones for their birthdays. Now, I have to make the purchase so I will have one. This book is a treasure, and at the current price, it's a steal!

This is a large book, a great book, an important book, a beautiful book. Its avowed purpose is to instill a love of our planet through the medium of magnificent black and white photographs of the world's untamed places, animals, and people, as they were or may have been in the time before history. The artist, Sebastiao Salgado, is a master photographer--a master landscape photographer, a master nature photographer, a master people photographer, and a master aerial photographer. Each of the hundreds of photographs magnificently printed in this book is a masterpiece, even those few printed in smaller than full-page format. There isn't a weak image in the lot. The pictures of unfamiliar places, animals, and people are no less than awe-inspiring. The pictures of more familiar places and animals, such as Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley, and lions, penguins and apes, stand favorable comparison with the very best black and white photographs of the same subjects by other master photographers. The book's layout gives respectful white space to the images, and while there are some larger images that span double-page spreads, I somehow didn't find this as annoying as I often do. This book is also a great bargain. Go buy it! As to its purpose, the book shows us the beauty of a fragile world we humans are on a fast track to destroying, but don't expect it to raise your commitment to alleviating global warming, our world's greatest existential peril. That's too much to expect of any book of photographs in this day and age of media saturation. Hopefully, some of the book's proceeds will help Salgado and his wife in their work of restoring a small piece of the Brazilian rain forest.

Small book, but photos are beautifully produced. Happy to have some of Mr Salgado’s work on my shelves. Unbelievable photos and helpful commentary!

Sebastião Salgado’s GENESIS is a breathtaking reminder of what a truly humanistic eye can reveal. Every photograph feels carved from the earth itself — compassionate, patient, and deeply attuned to the spirit of the natural world. The printing is extraordinary, that unmistakable Italian craftsmanship (almost certainly Mondadori), rendered with the depth, richness, and tonal grace his work deserves. At this price — especially with a coupon bringing the original large-format edition to around $58 — it’s an astonishing value. I’ve treasured our copy of Workers for years, and now GENESIS sits beside it like a sibling: powerful, elegant, and endlessly inspiring.

Salgado is probably the finest photographer in his genre working today, but this magnum opus is, by far too "magnum". * It is far too big * It is badly curated: there is a lot of great photography and a powerful message in this book, but much of the impact of the great photographs and the message is reduced because there are just too many photographs for the reader to easily digest in a single (or even a few) sitting. The really good stuff gets swamped by the lots and lots of marginal images presented in groups on fold-out pages. It is much akin to information being drowned out by to much undigested data. In reality, this could have been a much better book with no more than 30% of the included images. * Many of the best images are given two page spreads, meaning a great image is broken up across two pages (that don't even lay flat), lessening the impact of an otherwise excellent image for mere size - which, by the way, makes this book virtually impossible to hold comfortably in your lap. The really good images would have been better served if the book had been produced in a landscape format so that they could be viewed without a break. Fewer images not broken up by binding. * Other than the main chapter headings, there isn't any information about any of the images in the book, itself - that's why there is a companion book contains exhaustive and often repetitive information about every image in the main volume. Again, for me, this is where information lapsed into being data, and made this a volume that can only be comfortably navigated while sitting at a desk or table. * The physical production quality of the book is first rate, it is the design that lets the side down.

Buy a hardback copy, at whatever the price you can find it. The photo book is over full of Astounding images of humans around our world in last decade. The photos are Black & White and people of all ages will find it mesmerizing, educating, question raising, joyous, sad, frustrating, and hopeful. The photo artist and photo essayist author is an adventurer, husband and father. Their family also revived a dying farm homestead in Brazil, by re-greening it and letting Nature replenish it. Did I say Buy it? You'll want this, and you'll want others to see it for themselves too.

As the title reads, The best black and white photobook I have ever purchased! That pretty much sums it up. Salgado is a genius, this book is very large is size but almost every photograph in it is magical. The print quality is excellent. The only complaint I would have is that the binding in the books makes it tough to enjoy double paged photos but I can live with it.

Simply one of the best photo books I’ve ever seen. If you want to get inspired to do more B&W photography, look no further!

Wunderschöne Aufnahmen

It ia a high quality print and very good size

This is the condensed version of Sebastião Salgado's classic book by the same title. It's smaller, lighter, and contains fewer pages. I actually prefer this version because it's very handy for reading. The photos are stunning. There is more text than I expected for a photo book and is a sweet surprise.